


5 Times Aleks and James Ended Up In Bed Together

by watchthequeenconquer



Category: Cow Chop, The Creatures (Youtube RPF)
Genre: Drunkenness, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Insomnia, M/M, Morning Wood, Sharing a Bed, Spooning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-18 20:51:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11298600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watchthequeenconquer/pseuds/watchthequeenconquer
Summary: From The Creatures to Cow Chop, four times Aleks and James ended up in bed together and one time something finally happened.





	5 Times Aleks and James Ended Up In Bed Together

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline and characterisation may not be canon in reality, but I can't leave these boys alone. Mentions of drug use and the infamous Creature break up.

In the sordid history of best friends ending up unseemingly in each other’s beds, their first time like many others was heavily influenced by questionable decision making and the tantalising utilisation of a recording device. 

Contemplating his next move while idling on the opposite bedside with a cheap camcorder in hand, James would hardly consider the situation mutually complicit and himself innocent of instigation.

Dispelling just how proficient he was in the art of coercion, with both willing and non-willing participants, from his mind, James quickly snuck around to the other side of the bed and placed the active device on the bedside table, pointing it at Aleks' prone form.

Readjusting the vision, James straightened before regarding his friend's sleeping face, the slightest twitch of his dark eyebrows the only disruption to his perfectly peaceful expression.

"Trust Aleks to be sleeping on the job..."James snickered lowly, sound bars on the camera jumping in conspiratorial agreement. 

His intentions hadn't been entirely sinister. As he taped, the convention was still in full swing downstairs. Aleks had left early complaining of a headache and when the oppourtunity arose to invade his personal space under the pretense of a concerned coworker, James couldn't resist the chance to slip away and into the privacy of their hotel. 

He knew he probably shouldn't, but he couldn't leave it alone when he found Aleks dead to the world. 

"I don't think I've ever seen a sleeping Russian in its natural habitat before..." James mused openly, "Could be dangerous. Let's see how close we can get..."

He knew it was wrong, taking advantage of an unconscious Aleks like this, but the hit of the adrenaline kick that came with that heady realisation had him moving without hesitation. 

The creak of the bed under his weight and the rustle of the dislodged blankets sounds obscenely loud in the comatose quiet of the room. Every movement should have set off the tripwire, but every jagged intake of baited breath did nothing to disturb the deep inhale-exhale. 

There were a number of things that James hadn't anticipated as he lay down tentatively. The immovability shouldn't have come as a surprise, that even the close proximity wouldn't deter Aleks, resolute even in sleep, even as James daringly inched up against his back. Draped a loose arm over him, just to get the full effect. He hadn't accounted for Aleks not starting straight away, the reaction that was the entire point of the exercise. Or for how warm it would be, an hours head start generating the perfect amount of natural warmth in stark contrast with the chilly night air. 

Settling his head on the pillow in wait, James had expected least of all how peaceful Aleks would be - his fitful, boastful, ever-involved comrade far from care or concern.

The thought was strangely comforting, and maybe it was this tranquility that left him to forget just how tried he was. 

"What the fuck, James!"

Hurled onto the folder with a thud, a barely conscious James tried unsuccessfully to maintain the peaceful imagery from the night before as the Russian, disheveled and disoriented, ejected him from the room he'd been unconsciously sharing for the last twelve hours.

"I hope you're not this aggressive with all your sexual encounters the morning after!" James jibes, scrambling for the door on his hands and knees.

"Get out before I cut you, asshole!"

Snaking the camera that had just missed hitting him in the head and fearing further retribution, James acquiesces without being told twice.

Thought the footage may not have made it to air due to some collateral damage, the story of their first shared sleeping arrangement still made it to Creature Talk. 

The best bedfellows always start out unintentionally, right?

*

"Are you going to sleep soon, man? We're not getting anywhere with this." Aleks yawns loudly. He toed his cold feet underneath his covers, burrowing in search of warmth.

"Give me that! One more round." James presses insistently, the dark bags underneath his dark eyes unacknowledged as he focuses intently on the boss they can't beat, posted up against the headboard like a soldier tied to his duty. 

And that was just James, wasn't it? When Aleks was ready to throw in the controller, slip into sleep or sarcasm or an easier alternative, James refused to quit. Beneath the boisterousness and excessive enthusiasm and explosions of aggression, beneath the big smiles and grand gestures, was a stout pragmatist who refused to admit to any weakness, always searching out the means to the end regardless of the difficulty.

"You look beat." Aleks comments dryly, slipping further into his blankets as he watched James continue, pink tongue stuck out stubbornly as he mashed the buttons in frustration.

"Just die already!" James growls in frustration, brow furrowed as he hunched further forward as if to physically will his opponent to perish. "I'm fine..."

"You're going to look like dog’s balls on camera, dude. Even more so than usual." Aleks snickers, cowering behind the shield of the blankets, completely expecting James to pause in his game play to throttle him with the controller, body slam him, something. Instead James completely ignores him, button clicks the only disruption to the dead silence between them. 

"Don't you have to be up early tomorrow filming?" Aleks presses without understanding why, watching the lights flicker across James' profile in the half-light, searching for something more.

"There's been some shifts in the schedule so they don't need me." James returns evenly, face as empty as his tone.

"That's bullshit." Aleks adds, sleepiness adding to the sympathy in his voice. 

James sighs then, slumping back hard against the headboard, letting his head fall back with unnecessary force as he dies in the game again, a fatality tally both had lost count of by this point.

"This game is bullshit, that's what it is." 

"Stick to your day job," Aleks jokes, unable to suppress a yawn, thinking of making a grab for the controller. Given how tense James is, he decides quickly and wisely against the impulse. 

"Trying." James mutters, rubbing his hollow eyes with a determination that all but ensures he's not going to shut them anytime soon, "Get some sleep, Aleksander."

But you're hogging all the space!" Aleks whines tiredly.

"We'll see who's in who's space when you're dry humping my leg at 2am." James counters, poking his tongue out. Aleks is grateful for the attempt at lightening the mood, grateful that when he tentatively curls up on his side facing James' leg that James doesn't comment, even if none of the humour reaches his eyes.

"Who are you kidding? Anytime you want to go back to your own bed, Nova." Aleks laughs with a little smile, both of them knowing he doesn't mean it.

"Shut up and sleep." James commands, breaking out of his kill mode to reach down and pull the covers all the way over Aleks, dumping them over his head with a flourish of finality.

Aleks sees the consideration in the gesture and doesn't make a fuss, burying blindly beneath it, pretending not to notice like he ignores the fact that James hasn't slept in days. 

When he wakes up in the morning and James is asleep on the far side of the bed, balancing precariously close to the edge. The distance has been apparent in everything but their friendship lately; Stefani staying back late at the office, Jordan keeping them at arm’s length on projects.

It's just like a bad dream, right? Watching an exhausted James thrash restlessly, unsettled even in the sleep that his body's forced upon him, Aleks hopes they wake up from whatever alternate reality this is soon.

*

The limbo of existence that insomnia strands a person in has cruel and twisted influences. The deprivation of basic human necessities can have a twisted impact on the mind. James thinks he might be hallucinating given the speed with which he reaches Aleks' bedroom, though he can't remember the trip there. 

"Aleksander, wake up!" James whispers harshly, shaking the Russian forcefully.

"What the fuck - James?" Bleary eyed and disoriented, Aleks shot up out of bed straight away.

"We need to leave!" James all but yells, not realising he is still shaking Aleks.

"Is there a fire? Yell FIRE, IDIOT!" Aleks yells back, jumping off the bed as though he has already been physically burned. "Where are the dogs? Have you woken the others?"

While Aleks has flown into a flurried motion of panic, searching under assorted pants and in the crevices of the room for their pets, James balances his hands on his thighs and giggles.

"You wear briefs to bed? Seriously?" James observes, watching Aleks run around half naked without moving. 

Aleks looks at him blankly, pure instinct replaced with a quickly dawning anger, setting over his sharp features like a summer storm.

"What - what the actual fuck, dude!"

"No immediate danger - but we have to leave." James raises his hands, exasperation weighing as heavily as the rings under his eyes. Did Aleks have to be so dramatic all of the time?

He barely had a second to reconsider his life and friendship choices before Aleks is literally choking the life out of him. It takes a good ten seconds of James spluttering to finally relinquish his hold.

"Have you lost your mind?" Aleks restrains himself from screaming, conscious of the rest of the house sleeping blissfully unaware of the imaginary peril he had been led to believe they had been plunged into.

"That-that was kind of hot, Aleks. Maybe we could revisit that - in a less serious setting..." James splutters, flat on his back with his hands on his throat, desperately dragging in air and slowly inching a safe distance away. Aleks was clearly disturbed, his insane plan may not be so poorly received after all. 

"Less serious? James, you need to get your shit together." Aleks affirms, raking a hand through his dark hair. Despite the initial anger, there was a dangerous level of concern in his voice that made James want to crawl under one of the pillows and never surface. Well maybe after explaining the reason he's here, resolving the mission he nearly got his ass choked out for. 

"I am - I mean - that's why I'm here. We need to leave. Soon Aleks - it has to be - the time is right -"

He doesn't realise that he is rambling hysterically until Aleks is on top on him again, but this time pinning him securely into the bed. Not anything kinky he can joke about, but grounding him, concrete and solid like he might be having a full scale, white-jacket level manic episode. 

"James, James, James - look at me. Focus. Did you have one of those night terror attacks again?" Aleks asks slowly, searching his eyes for his level of sobriety. 

"You have to sleep for that, Aleks!" James retorts with a laugh that is too high to be entirely stable, a sound that even freaks him out.

He swears he hears Aleks mutter something incriminating along the lines of commuting a homicide involving their coworkers. Dazed and concerned himself now, he watches Aleks get a grip over himself, taking a deep breath as the lightning cloud passes over his face before speaking again.

"So you haven't slept in - forever. How high are you right now?"

"Barely." James waves him off with another unsteady laugh, wishing he had packed another cone before he came over.

As if telegraphing his thoughts, Aleks frowns. "With the bong again?"

"Aleksander listen to me, please." James hears himself pleading now, and if that isn't the whole riot act of emotions in one witching hour setting, he doesn't know what is. 

"We need to leave -"

"Leave what?" Aleks asks, still pinning the bigger man. Though his weight is hardly immovable, James is finding it weirdly comforting right now, when everything else seems to be shifting like a spinning top revolving on a tectonic plate.

"The Creatures." James breathes, the wind entirely knocked out of him. 

"Wha - Did you take acid or something? I need to know what I'm dealing with here." Aleks scoffs, before taking a hard look at James and the lack of response that follows.

And suddenly James has no words anymore, sucker punched with the realisation that even if Aleks does believe him, he may not believe in him enough to follow.

"Hear me out. Irrespective of my personal shit -" James swallows hard around the Stefani-sized lump that has been lodged in his throats for months, "They weren't kidding about cutting my segments and without any creative direction..."

"Fuck James - this is a lot to unload at 3am..." Aleks trails off uncomfortably.

"I have to go, Aleks." James finishes soberly, shocked alert with the kick of adrenaline and the seriousness of his words, aware of the seismic shift of irreplaceable change that will follow, "I have to go - and I'll talk to Joe and a few others - but I needed to tell you first."

"You're deadly serious." Aleks sits back like his world has been just as shaken and James swallows a newer lump, one he hadn't been aware was there before. 

"I want to take you with me, start our own thing together." James reaffirms, voice dryer than his attempt at humour. “I’m not going to get down on one knee, but like all poorly planned proposals, the choice is yours."

"Didn't even fork out for a Burger ring wedding band." Aleks snickers, and in spite of the ridiculous, life altering severity of this past midnight conversation, both fall into hysterics.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. Sleep on it?"

Aleks winces at the end, immediately know it was the wrong choice of words looking into James’ exhausted face.

"Sure thing." James concedes, not meaning to sound so resigned, suddenly exhausted and on the verge of a proper meltdown. 

Moving to get up and head back to his own room, he doesn't expect it when Aleks stops him.

"Just stay here, man. Might help you fall asleep?" 

"Tempting offer, but you can't just spurn me and then expect me to put out for you." James jokes, deflecting because it's all he has left at this point. But he lays down like his body has no will left. His head ends up on Aleks’ knee and when the other man unties his way too tight bun and begins to gently unknot his curls, James let's him.

"Come on, put your morals aside. It's just one night." Aleks croons with a smile in his voice, and unable to tell what's a joke anymore and what's hardline fucking reality, James doesn't have the strength to fight it.

"It's still going to hurt in the morning." James murmurs absently, suddenly dangerous close to teetering on the edge of sleep.

"I haven't said no yet." Aleks mutters with a laugh, continuing to stoke his hair until James, defenseless and spent, falls.

He wakes up with Aleks’ hand still in his hair then next morning. And like all questionable judgements made the morning after, Aleks says yes.

*

Despite being whirlwind in real time, their eviction from the house in Colorado and their move to LA moves like a poorly rendered piece of footage for Aleks - shaky and blurred. Their exhaustion is such that their first night in LA feels like their lives are out of focus, waiting for the close up that brings clarity to their altered existence. 

Rather than go home to his own place, Aleks heads straight to James' house with Trevor and Joe to help unpack their stuff. It only seems fair given James is shouldering most of their accumulated clutter until they've set themselves up at the vacant lot that will be their studio.

"James, I'm stuck!" Aleks calls, kicking furiously at the tower of boxes that has fallen on top of him and instantly regretting it when one on his ankle screams in protest. That will show him for attempting to take a run at the pile rather than moving them one by one.

"JAMES!" He calls again, more impatient than in actual danger of being crushed. 

"Where are you dude? Can you shoot up a flare or something?" James finally marco-polos back from somewhere nearby, wading through the Jenga jungle of their belongings.

"Under the boxes, idiot!" Aleks cries, a little exasperated after five minutes of waiting as the reverberation of pain through his ankle begins to hum at a frequency he can’t handle at this level of tiredness.

"Hold on!" James’ cry is followed by a loud thud and toppling of more boxes than can spell nothing good for either of them.

"I got you!" James laughs, his head appearing close by, with Aleks’ ankle in his grasp, beginning to drag him to the centre of the room.

"What a hero. Couldn't you just clear a path?" Aleks replies in irritation, too tired to fight the ridiculous scenario, "There isn't even that much stuff!"

"Yet you decided to go dumpster diving in our personal effects?" James counters, face straining with effort as he grabs both ankles for the impact, pulling Aleks heedlessly through the debris left in their wake. 

"I made an error in spacial judgement okay – that pile of boxes didn’t look that big until I got up close!" Aleks bites back, feeling his ankle throb in remembrance. "James, STOP!"

"Mmhmm...a thank you for saving your life would've sufficed!" James snorted, looking down at him with his hands on his hips, the disappointment on his face half concealed. 

"Fuck that hurts...thanks for taking the time to put on a fucking snorkel mask!" Aleks gestures emphatically with his free hand. He sat up and shook his head, voice hitching as he rubbed at his already swelling leg. 

"You can never be too prepared for an emergency!" James replies defensively, removing the mask and crouching next to Aleks with a look of concern. "Speaking of...that situation doesn't look good." 

"It's nothing," Aleks brushes him off. James gives him space as he attempts to stand, then grabs him when he nearly goes down with the first step on the shot leg. 

"Fuck!" Aleks yells, throwing his head back in frustration as the intensified sting shoots through him, begrudgingly leaning on James for support. 

"And how exactly are you planning on hurdling your way out of this one?" James queries with a concerned smile.

Aleks starts desperately trying to think of a contingency plan that doesn't involve him losing his dignity. If he were in a little less pain, he might have seen James move into his side, wrapping a loose shoulder under his arm with a glint of mischief in his dark eyes.

"If you unpack the wheelchair, we could use it as a battering ram to get through...HEY!"

Before Aleks could properly register what was going on, James had slung his arm around the length of his shoulders and scooped up his legs with the other, hefting him into place before walking to the wall of boxes.

"What the! Put me down -" Aleks splutters. 

"First you want to be saved, then you want to be left alone...?" James huffs in return, part mock offence part heavy breathing as he kicks and pushes, hefting the pair of them through the debris of unpacked personal items.

"James, seriously!" Aleks, red faced, squirms helplessly. He knew James had been working out but he didn't think he was that strong...or was he that light? All he had taken away from moving was the need to obtain a gym membership immediately.

"Is this what Mario feels like ever time Peach gets captured? Damsels in distress these days!" James sighed, barely struggling with Aleks' resistance as he carried him bridal style down the hall, side stepping through the threshold into one of the rooms. The room was entirely empty, save another smattering of boxes and a stark single mattress in the middle of the room. 

“I feel so violated.” Aleks mutters as James gently places him down on the mattress, looking around the bare room. “Nice décor, man. Is this where you bring all your unconsenting sexual conquests?” 

“Only the incapacitated ones.” James responds easily, lobbing a pillow at Aleks head, which Aleks dodges with a laugh. 

“You know how to treat a boy right.” Aleks coos, positioning the pillow under his head and laying down. He’s too tired not to play along and in too much pain to remain upright. 

“That pillow was for your foot, Aleksander! Now I’m going to have to unbox one.” James cries in exasperation, voice a pitchy display of his own exhaustion. 

For a second, Aleks thinks James is in the kind of destructive mood to rip the pillow out from underneath his head as a quick solve solution. When he hears James retreat from the room, muttering something about not having to put up with this shit, Aleks smirks, winces a little at the pain in his ankle as he shifts it on its side to a more comfortable position, and closes his eyes. 

When he opens them again, he feels groggy like he’s been out for some time. James is watching him from beside the bed, an open box of pizza beside him that he is busy devouring. 

“Oh shit man, how long was I asleep for?” Aleks groans. His mouth is dry as hell and there are unattractive crusty bits to rub out of his eyes if his body’s current status is any indication.

“Not long.” James replies, eyes warm with amusement. His mouth is full of pizza, but it does nothing to cover the lie. Aleks doesn’t know whether to be embarrassed or grateful. In the end, he embraces the warming feeling seeping through his chest, even if his body is freezing cold with no blankets. 

“I should go…” Aleks mumbles, moving quickly before the painful reminder of his twisted ankle hits him with a friendly go-fuck-yourself. How did that get propped up on three pillows without him waking up? Wincing, he rallies himself to try again. He has his own shit to unpack in the empty house in the unknown city to go and familiarize himself with. 

“Eat something first.” James forces a slice of pizza firmly into Aleks hand. Sensing no room for argument, Aleks takes the first bite reluctantly before wolfing the rest of the slice in an embarrassingly short amount of time. James is handing him another before his stomach can even signal ‘more’ to his brain. 

“Thanks.” Aleks manages between bites, pizza sauce covering his mouth. Polishing off a third, the feeling of fullness in his belly is the best he’s felt all day. 

“Now take these.” James pops two pills into Aleks’ hand with a glass of water. 

“Are you trying to roofie me? That’s so LA of you.” Aleks snickers, but swallows the pills without hesitation as James shakes his head. 

“Just wanted to give you the complete Hollywood experience,” James returns with a laugh, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he regards Aleks seriously, “Are these going to be enough to sedate you into staying, or am I going to have to find another way to restrain you?” 

“But I was ready to hit the club…spend $100 bills on stripper body shots…” Aleks begins feebly, not even believing himself. Even if he could drive, he’s so exhausted he would be lucky to make it to the next suburb. James raised eyebrows and look of disbelief are enough to send him into a delirious fit of laughter. 

“Fine! I’ll stay. Who wants to spend their first night in a new city sitting alone in their naked ass apartment anyway? It’s depressing.” Aleks laughs, shifting over to James can take the space next to him. 

There is no need for discussion about the logistics – they’ve had to deal with shared space in poorer conditions than this before. But James doesn’t move, just looks at him with a deeply wounded expression that seems to have come out of nowhere. 

“Thanks for settling for second best!” James bites back angrily, and the pain that radiates off him makes his busted ankle feel minor in comparison, “All night I’ve tried to look after you…carried you around, let you sleep in my bed…” 

“I-man-I’m sorry….” Aleks stumbles out. 

“I’m tired too – and I don’t have to sit here and put up with this crap!” James cuts him off, getting to his feet before storming out of the room. 

Aleks remains, completely dumbfounded, staring at the spot on the floor where James had just been. Where had that come from? He’d just been thinking of it from his perspective – the minor injury contributing to it – but James was just as stressed and exhausted and mentally drained as he was…and he’d just been trying to help... Aleks shifted off the pillow, moving his good foot to the floor to leverage off and limp after James. He was just about to test out the durability of his injury ankle on the hard wood floor when a huge hurtling object hit him in the face and upper body, causing him to fall backwards. 

“What the fuck!” Aleks splutters, recovering and pushing the assaulting item off his person. It had been a shock, but it hadn’t hurt at all. Twisting his head to examining the item more closely, his eyes widen when he knew straight away that it was one of the soft plush bears from The Creatures bear room. 

James was hovering in the doorway with another under his arm. Any traces of his previous aggression were gone, dark eyes full of life as he tried his hardest not to burst into laughter at Aleks’ incredulous expression. 

“No blankets.” James says as if giant plush bears from their past still being in his possession is the most self-explanatory thing in the world. 

“Firstly, you’re an asshole.” Aleks replies, seeing James beaming at his own prank and unable to keep the smile of relief off his own face. James moves over to where Aleks is lying flat on his back, repositioning his ankle on the pillow before using the bear to cover the rest of his body in the least asshole like move in the world.

“Secondly, I’m surprised you’re cool with spending our first night in LA with…with these.” He finishes lamely. James moves to the other side of the bed, dumping the bear next to him and slipping on beside Aleks, curling up on his side to ensure Aleks remains comfortable on his back. Aleks can feel James breath tickling his elbow, his solid body warm against his side in the cool California evening air. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” James murmurs with a sleepy yawn, clearly unphased. He inches closer to Aleks side and sighs. “Everything happens for a reason – this is connected to the past sure, but without that we might not have ever made it to California, right?” 

“Right.” Aleks nods in affirmation, staring at the ceiling, impressed (and not for the first time) at James constant ability to surprise him. “Deep.” 

“Not really.” James snickers, covering himself with the bear with a cheeky laugh, his voice floating out from under the plush fur, “I knew it would piss Jordan off. Plus, I figured we could tie one of them to Trevor – maybe set him on fire as click bait– are sacrificial bon fires legal here?”

“That’s my Daddy!” Aleks can’t help but giggle with a shake of his head. 

“Please do not call me that, Aleksander!” James whines, but from the way the bear beside him is shaking, Aleks can see James is laughing at his own immaturity too.

They lie there in silence for a while, the only interruptions gentle shifts as the other tries to get comfortable within their space of the bed and under the shelter of the bears. Being not able to see each other makes it all easier to deal with somehow – the massive shift to the new city and all the changes that come with it. Somehow despite all of this, Aleks feels like they’ve never been closer than they are right now, even if they weren’t sharing an inch of mattress on a desolate wooden floor. 

“We made it, huh?” Aleks says finally through the body of the bear that’s covering him. 

“We did.” James replies in the darkness, and Aleks feels him shift slightly closer, pressing comfortingly into his side. 

Aleks shifts a little closer too, winces a little at the movement. It’s worth it just to grab that little bit of contact, stealing tiny unspoken inches of space and moments in the dark that he’s finding it harder and harder to live without, harder to hide from in the daylight or at night. 

“Everything okay?” James’ worried voice comes across and Aleks feels the bear beside him shift like he might throw it aside to check on him. 

“I’m okay.” Aleks affirms, before adding confidently, “Everything’s going to be okay.” 

They both know he’s not just talking about his leg anymore.

“Yeah…everything’s going to be okay…” James repeats to himself in a dream-like tone, a soothing lullaby that has him snoring in seconds. With uncertainty and endless possibilities and the pulsing streets racing around them, Aleks follows suit in the small cramped bed with his more-than-best-friend’s head on his shoulder. 

*

The morning after his birthday, James didn’t expect to wake up feeling any different. Not physical older or wiser. Sure, there were certain post-celebratory elements to account for – the bad aftertaste in your mouth, the hangover that left your head pounding, the general aversion to sunlight and noise and people so you could be left alone to commiserate the extension of your existence in agonizing, enforced silence with the shutters down and a pillow over your head. 

This is what James expected when he decided to ring in the eve of his 27th birthday by holing himself up in his room with a nice bottle of whiskey. And everything would’ve gone to plan had Aleks not taken it upon himself to spoil James’ idea of a party. 

“That is literally the most pathetic thing I have ever heard.” Aleks responds flatly when James shares his plan with him when the pair woke up that morning.

“What? It’s going to be wild. If I’m feeling really crazy, I might even live-stream it.” James grins, refusing to be bought down by Aleks’ lack of enthusiasm.

“Come on man, we’re in LA! Why not find an actual party with actual people with actual lives.” Aleks coaxes. 

“But I already had my party with FunHaus.” James pouts, trying to elicit a laugh, anything to get Aleks off the subject. 

“A fake Minecraft party for our subscribers doesn’t count!” Aleks counters in exasperation, “Let’s go do shots…we could get you a stripper…” 

“Do we really need another Reddit scandal?” James snickers with a shake of his head, “Last thing I want is to be around a bunch of random people getting wasted.” 

“Come on…” Aleks whines.

“It’s my party and I’ll stay inside if I want to. End of subject.” James raises his eyebrows pointedly to show there is no more room for discussion. 

“That reference is lost on me, old timer,” Aleks sighs, removing the pillow from his head and throwing it at James, “I guess we’re staying in then…”

“We?” James parrots, catching the pillow with a disbelieving squeak. 

“What, you think I’m going to leave you alone on your birthday?” Aleks replies with an equally confused furrow of his dark eyebrows, “What kind of asshole do you take me for?” 

“But I…I thought you were going out with Trevor tonight.” James reminds him, hoping against hope that Aleks will take the hint and leave him be, “He’ll be devastated if you don’t go hunting for celebrity selfies with him.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Aleks’ face darkens temporarily, before being replace with a smile as bright as his hair, “Fuck yeah dude, this is the perfect excuse to cancel on him!” 

“This is going to be the best night ever!” James replies sarcastically, dreading the evening to come. 

Despite his best attempts to dissuade him, Aleks persisted in his stubborn insistence on attending his nonexistent soiree. It wasn’t that James was entirely ungrateful for the sentiment, but the company was entirely new to his birthday celebration process. 

The rules laid out were pretty simple in James’ humble opinion. No cake, streamers or anything else remotely associated with frivolity and the only thing resembling an activity would be whatever shitty video gaming was currently in his console. 

As obliging as an unwanted guest can be, Aleks followed the instructions on the verbal invite to the best of his ability – arriving dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, armed with a bottle of tequila and a big bag of California-grade herb.

The evening that followed was about as closely aligned to the premise as James could’ve hoped for. Both got a little too high and a little too drunk after Aleks’ enforced tequila shot quota was met, bickering while playing video games and laughing at their own stupid running commentary. 

Close to midnight and passing out, one of the last things James remembered was snippets of their conversation about birthdays. In typical stubborn fashion, drunk Aleks wasn’t able to let go of the fact that drunk James couldn’t just celebrate like a normal person. 

“But it’s so depressing…why don’t you want to go out and get drunk with everyone?” Aleks slurs, gesticulating wildly to emphasis his point and tipping vodka over himself in the process. 

“We live in California…we’re stoned all the time. Do I need to save it for a special day?” James giggles helplessly, feeling his world tip more than a little off its axis. Having drank first and smoked after, Aleks was well ahead in the intoxication stakes, but James was definitely feeling it too. He clutched the whiskey bottle in his hand tighter. Watching the contents slosh around made him feel a little queasy. 

“But…birthdays are special…you’re meant to make a wish!” Aleks adds emphatically, sliding down the bedhead and onto his back. 

“But I’ve got everything I want.” James replies with a laugh, attempting to sip his drink and slide down at the same time, resulting in him spilling the contents all over himself as well. 

Struggling to get upright, Aleks rolls on his side instead to look at him with an elbow under his head to support it. His eyelashes are impossibly long and thick as they sweep down to consider the half-filled glass in his hand before his dark eyes returned to James. The serious expression on his face is so intense that given how drunk they are, James should be laughing but can’t bring himself to. There is something underneath it, something just out of the grasp of James’ current inebriated state but it’s enough to make him blink hard and try to focus on the single word that comes out of the other man’s mouth. 

“Everything?” Aleks echoes, his voice wavering. James is going to chalk it up to skepticism, but it doesn’t feel right, lacking the cynical edge and verging dangerously close to an unspecified strain of sentiment. 

“Sure. My friends and my mother are set, Ein’s fat but healthy, the channel is going well…” James marks the things most important to him off on his fingers, “I don’t see what I’m missing?” 

“Exactly!” Aleks declares triumphantly, his arm whipping in the air to bumping James in the nose with his finger, “You don’t see it, James…you don’t see it at all…”

James frowns in response, then hiccups loudly. The cocktail of tequila and whiskey hits him all of a sudden and before he knows it, he’s flat on his back trying to balance the bottle on his chest, eyes way too heavy. 

“Cause I’m about to pass out?” He slurs with another hiccup, feeling Aleks gently pries the bottle from his grasp and roll him onto his side. He shuts his eyes just to stop the world from spinning. 

“Deserve more…” James could swear he heard Aleks mutter before he loses consciousness. 

These kind of fractured recollections of conversation, feelings of confusion and regret for what you said the night before, cringing before opening your eyes in anticipation of how thoroughly incapacitated you’re going to be…these are the expectations that James has of the morning after. 

The sleep isn’t the greatest, though the dreams were something to be desired. The subject matter escapes him, but the feelings combined with the pleasant still-drunk haze just before the hangover sets in lingers, leaving him to wake in the warm, pleasant arms of early-morning arousal. 

Keeping his eyes shut against the early morning light, James groans audibly. His head isn’t the only thing throbbing. He shifts his hips a little, relishing in the warmth kindling in his belly and weighing down his balls. Hazily unaware of his surroundings, he spreads his legs a little to accommodate the ache, hand about to venture south to rub one out and ease himself into what is sure to be a painful morning. 

It’s only when he hears a tiny, barely conscious moan in response that the realization slowly dawns that he isn’t alone and the delicious weight on his chest and abdomen isn’t just the warm press of the duvet or the imaginary alcohol blanket. 

“Can you at least wait until I’m awake if you’re going to grind your boner into me?” Aleks mutters sleepily and if sober James were present, he definitely would’ve fallen off the bed in shock. 

Who says all the bad decisions are made the night before? James knows he should move, restore some decency before they are properly alert and it’s all too late to repair, but his head is still tipsy and he’s still half-hard. Aleks upper body is curled on his chest like some kind of blonde, smug cat, with James’ whiskey bottle in hand, petulant and delectably drowsy and the warmth…its pulling from his belly up his spine, but with Aleks on top of him, its radiating all over, inviting him to burrow deeper into it.

“I could fix it myself if you weren’t on top of me.” James yawns in reply, shifting his hips a little to get comfortable. 

With one arm pillowing his head, the other hand can’t resist the temptation to continue its passage, moving downward and into Aleks’ platinum hair. With heavy-lidded eyes, James gently smooths his hand through it, pulling gently at intervals to elicit a reaction.

“You’re doing a great job of encouraging me to move...mmm….” Aleks cuts himself off with a low noise of satisfaction, fists curling even further into James’ chest. He’s practically purring now, the vibrations reverberating through his whole body. He’s even pushing up into James hand, demanding, chasing the sensation. His body’s upward slide caresses James’ dick, which is still pressed insistently into Aleks’ abdomen, unattended to and unacknowledged.

“I could make you.” James challenges, eyes suddenly bright as his hand clenches into a fist in Alek’s locks. It’s a little cruel, but he can’t help but wrench Aleks head back a little, forcing him to look at him from a strained angle. 

A shivery thrill runs up James spine as the sight of Aleks’ exposed throat, the total control which he seems to surrender effortlessly. He doesn’t look distressed, but confident like he could flip the situation in a second. His breathing is labored and as James tests his tightened grip, he can’t help but feel Aleks might even be getting off on this a little himself. 

“Oh yeah?” Aleks rises to the bait with a sick grin, “Come at me, bro.” 

The scuffle that follows is short-lived and lazy. Using his leverage on Aleks head, James pushes his hips upwards and uses Aleks loss of balance to flip them with ease. Without the weight or positional advantage, still drunk and barely awake, Aleks’ struggle is limited in its reach. 

“Pinned ya again!” James grins down triumphantly, loose hair framing his face as he balances on his arms, hands on either side of Aleks face. 

“That was hardly a fair fight.” Aleks scoffs from below, “Assuming I understand that reference to Kimba The White Lion, doesn’t that make you the girl?” 

“Regardless of gender, it makes me the winner.” James brushes him off, before frowning and flicking his hair out of his eyes. “Dammit, my hair tie…” 

He had only spent a second distracted, about to hunt for the missing object when Aleks capitalized on his misplaced focus, shooting upright and hooking his arm around James neck. To their collective surprise, Aleks’ counter attack is to drag James down on top of him into a kiss. 

Surprised as all hell, it took James a good minute to move his lips in response. In his body’s confused state, further impaired by sleep and intoxication, logic takes a back seat - the warm, urgent press of Aleks’ mouth was too inviting not to go along with. When Aleks fists a hand into James hair, wrapping the pony tail gently around his hand and pull it out of his eyes, turning his head to the side of deepen the kiss, James bites back a moan at the friction. 

Unwilling to relinquish the momentum, James went with the movement when Aleks rolls them easily onto their sides, hooking his leg over James’ hip as he went, not breaking the contact. His hand remained firmly planted in James’ hair and with more freedom to move, James mirrors the motion hungrily.

Aleks’ mouth is messy and wet, chasing the taste of James’ tongue with him own. Overwhelmed and barely able to keep up, James releases one of his hands from Aleks hair, trailing it down his back to cup his ass and drag him in closer. 

Moving away from his mouth, Aleks continues the trail down James’ neck, allowing him to close the space between their bodies. Squeezing with a groan and now ridiculously hard, James can’t stop himself from grinding against Aleks’ hip helplessly, desperate for the friction. Laving at James collarbone, Aleks moans loudly in approval, face flushed and pupils blown wide as he attacks James mouth again, his own hips bucking wildly. 

After a short time, the frenetic pace settles into a slow, lazy rhythm as their hangovers start to set in. Their mouths become less insistent, but the contact is no less deep, hands trailing over each other with a considered deliberation well suited to a Sunday morning roll around. 

Aleks finally breaks the contact, half moving off James and turning his head to the side to burp loudly.

“Sexy!” James comments, laying on his back to get his strength back. He can’t help but laugh when Aleks’ body visibly convulses for a moment, face contorted into a grimace. 

“I could definitely taste the tequila on its way back up there.” Aleks winces, pulling a face before slowly crawling back into James arms. 

“That was definitely a poor choice.” James laughs. His heart races as Aleks burrows into his chest with a contented sigh and his mind begins to catch up with the gravity of the current situation, even if the level of stress connected to it is reduced in his exhausted state. 

“I’m never drinking again.” Aleks murmurs pathetically into James chest, sighing as James begins to run drowsy hands through his hair again to soothe him.

“Is this…are we okay, like this?” James manages finally. 

“Well again, if you could stop digging your boner into me…” Aleks jokes as he looks up, before seeing the dead serious expression on James’ face and matching it with his tone, “Dude, we are too hungover for you to freak out right now.”

“Right.” James responds shortly, struggling in his best attempt not to panic. As much as he wasn’t the instigator, maybe Aleks was having second thoughts now he’d come down from adrenaline rush and begun sobering up? 

“We were just drunk and half asleep… you fall asleep in here all the time…it’s okay if you want to keep it between us…” James blurts out before he could stop himself. 

As if every macabre thought had flashed right across James’ face, Aleks grabs it firmly in both hands.

“James…JUST STOP.” 

And then Aleks was taking him by surprise again and kissing him, with both hands on either side of his face, wrapping his entire body around him in his insistence. It’s a kiss of cinematic proportions, worthy of a sweeping soundtrack and a 360 camera pan around them, the kind where if James were standing, his knees would buckle and Aleks would hold him up through the sheer force of his will. 

When Aleks slowly, reluctantly moves away, still staying close, brown eyes alight and searching, James licks his lips in disbelief. Not a trace of remorse, in the kiss or on his lips or on marking his heartbreakingly earnest face. 

“James, remember how I said you deserve more?” 

James nods wordlessly, tongue still tracing mindlessly over his lips, tasting the traces of Aleks breath where he crowds him in. 

“I know you said you have everything you want. Well I know what I want now, and it’s this.” Aleks shares with the kind of brutal honesty that can only follow an irreversible declaration with unimaginable consequences. 

“Aleks, you don’t have to…” James tries, throat dried out with emotion and exhaustion and a dawning elation that he is fighting to hold in check. 

“I’m not fucking around. Do you want me to fix that?” Aleks asks, gesturing downward then adding with a slightly shy edge, “I’ve never done it before on another dude, but ...” 

Now it’s James’ turn to kiss him, pure and sweet and all-in, baby with a dirty nip at his bottom lip as he pulls off to assure him that that territory was definitely going to be explored down the line. 

“Tempting as that sounds, I’m going to let you off easy this time.” James grins, pulling Aleks into his chest. Aleks looks a little dismayed, or maybe unsure himself, so James adds, “We should totally play with each other’s dicks sometime…you know, when we are less likely to throw up on the other person or shit our pants.”

“We’ve never been shy about bodily fluids before, why start now?” Aleks murmurs, speech heavy with sleep as James continues to pet his hair. 

‘You’re a freak, Aleksander!” James admonishes, yawning with a stretch. 

“Says the guy who likes to fuck with other people while they sleep!” Aleks replies, body reverberating against James as he chuckles in recollection at their first unintentional slumber party back in their Creatures days. 

“That was totally innocent. I just wanted to see what you’d be like in bed…you know…sleeping together, sharing a mattress in an entirely unsexual way!” James cries defensively, cheeks heating up in spite of himself in remembrance of the prank that went wrong. 

“Whatever you have to tell yourself to get through the night.” Aleks returns. 

“I sleep like a baby…no regrets, right?” James asks more than states. 

“I hear that when you’re snoring in my ear!” Aleks laughs, burrow his head back into James’ chest when he swats playfully at him, before adding with no trace of uncertainty, “No regrets.” 

With the sun beginning to rise and their immediate fears allayed, both settle down to sleep away the day. Aleks breathing has already begun to even out, one fist curled tightly into James’ shirt while the other arm is draws him in around the waist.

James mindlessly strokes his hair and neck, amazed at how easily they’ve fallen into intimacy…realizing that maybe it had just been there between them all along. The birthday surprise he wasn’t looking for but now couldn’t imagine living without. 

“So I can expect to wake up to a birthday blowjob, right?” James whispers sleepily, unable to help himself. 

“Only if I can call you Daddy.” Aleks replies, and though James can’t stand the thought, he is laughing his ass off anyway because that was just them – strange bedfellows in both their professional and private lives. 

When sleep came, James rested soundly for the first time in months. When he awoke later in the afternoon, with the shadowy fingers of the tree outside clawing up the wall, he sat bolt upright, panicking when he discovered Aleks was no longer next to him. 

“Must’ve been a dream after all…” James murmurs to himself, just as an insistent arm pushes him flat on his back. 

“Relax birthday boy, do you want your cake or not?” Aleks huffs from halfway down James’ torso, hands warm where they have slipped underneath his rucked up shirt. 

“Oh-Aleks - I didn’t…” James stammers, barely able to believe his luck and choking on his words as Aleks continues to suck and bite his way down his body with no finesse but all the enthusiasm. 

“That’s it… just shut the fuck up, make a wish and try not to come in my eyeball or something.” Aleks cuts his blubbering off in amusement. 

Screwing his eyes up hard and doing his best not to spontaneously nut when, with no warning, Aleks slips his balls into his mouth with a pop and begins gargling them, James prays that this is a dream he never has to wake up from.


End file.
